Publication: Competition Advocacy for Digital Markets in Africa
Loading...
Published
2024-05-28
ISSN
Date
2024-05-28
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This technical background paper provides insights on entry points for competition authorities in Africa to increase competition advocacy activities to improve the conditions of competition in digital markets and digital infrastructure. In Africa, there are various opportunities for policymakers at the national and regional levels to enhance competition advocacy efforts and promote competition issues in digital infrastructure and digital markets. These include regulatory advice and opinions on current or draft laws and regulations, market studies or inquiries, awareness raising and capacity building, and collaboration between competition authorities and telecommunications regulators, or any other government agency with powers over digital markets, at the national and regional levels.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2024. Competition Advocacy for Digital Markets in Africa. Governance and the Digital Economy in Africa Technical Background Paper Series. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41608 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication State-Owned Enterprises in Digital Infrastructure and Downstream Digital Markets in Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-28)This technical background paper delves into the role and importance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) within Africa's digital economy, along with the potential risks they pose to competition and market dynamics. Drawing upon new data on selected SOEs, the analysis focuses on the presence of SOEs and the competitive landscape within digital infrastructure, mobile, wireless, international calling, and data markets. While the policy and regulatory framework have progressed towards fostering more open markets, various aspects remain on the policy agenda. Governments stand to benefit from reassessing the policy and regulatory frameworks governing SOE operations and determining the most effective means to establish and uphold a level playing field for all market participants, be they public or private entities.Publication Corporate Governance and Transparency of State-Owned and State-Linked Digital Enterprises in Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-28)This technical background paper sheds light on the corporate governance challenges faced by enterprises with national state shareholdings, specifically State-owned and State-linked Enterprises (SOE-SLEs), operating within Africa's digital sector. State participation in digital infrastructure and services remains widespread in Africa with more than 160 State-owned and state-linked enterprises (SOE-SLEs). Analysis of 44 digital companies with state participation from 18 countries reveals a need to improve corporate governance frameworks and practices to better fit best international practices in line with their national requirements. Moreover, a significant portion of the reviewed companies, out of the 162 identified, lacks transparency in disclosing non-financial information about their management, policies, and corporate governance structures. Alarmingly, less than a fifth of these companies publish their annual reports or financial statements on their websites, underscoring the imperative for improved transparency and accountability measures within Africa's state-owned and state-linked digital enterprises.Publication Regulating Digital Data in Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-28)This technical background paper provides an overview of data governance frameworks in Africa and explores links with public trust and an enabling environment for greater participation in the digital economy. It exploits data from the Global Data Regulation Diagnostic (GDRD) which collected information on data regulations across 80 countries globally, including 24 Sub-Saharan African countries and three North African countries. Additional information for selected countries was collected by February 2022 through desk research and interviews to understand challenges in the implementation of rules captured by the GDRD. While national and regional data governance frameworks have progressed, there are still challenges in their design and implementation. A robust data governance environment is of great importance for Africa to ride the current wave of digital technology advances and to reap digital dividends while avoiding the inherent risks.Publication Taxes and Parafiscal Fees on Digital Infrastructure Services in Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-30)This technical background paper evaluates the progress of African nations in establishing effective fiscal frameworks for digital infrastructure across the continent. Through a comprehensive comparative analysis of legislative, tax, and regulatory policies in over 20 African countries, the report synthesizes insights on the status and trends of telecom taxes and parafiscal fees, aiming to inform policy recommendations. The assessment reveals a notable wide range of approaches to taxing the sector, resulting in the application of additional taxes compared to other economic activities and a complex array of taxes and parafiscal fees that are not always aligned with tax principles and public administration principles. Taxes discriminate among economic activities; some are regressive, and others are difficult to administer. Parafiscal fees are not proportionate to the cost of providing the service or are not used as a mechanism to boost the sector's efficiency or achieve specific sector goals. Compared to levels observed in other sectors and regions, a high tax burden on telecom operators and telecom consumers characterizes the African telecom landscape. Establishing a clear revenue strategy that coherently links tax policy with tax administration is crucial for supporting economic transformation and the growth of the digital economy in Africa.Publication Accelerating the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Uzbekistan’s Digital Economy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-01)The rapidly evolving digitalization in Uzbekistan is expanding opportunities to bolster an inclusive digital economy. Uzbekistan’s New Development Strategy and the 2030 Digital Strategy highlight the prominence of investments in the digital economy as a main driver of Uzbekistan’s economic development. Persons with disabilities face several barriers to obtaining equal access and successfully participating in the labor market, including the digital economy. Building digital skills and literacy for persons with disabilities is critical for persons with disabilities to learn, consume digital services, and access jobs. A study was undertaken to leverage these opportunities by identifying gaps in the digital inclusion for persons with disabilities to be addressed through policy and programmatic interventions. Using findings from a field study, the report addresses how digital sector development strategies and efforts by the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan (GoU) and other stakeholders can advance the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the digital economy. This study was undertaken to identify gaps in digital inclusion for persons with disabilities and inform policy and programmatic interventions. This report addresses two main lines of inquiry: (i) access to and consumption of digital services and content by persons with disabilities; and (ii) opportunities for persons with disabilities to undertake digital work.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.